


We can make this work

by SpadesDame



Series: Building a future [2]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Series
Genre: Adopted Children, Atem is a darling, Kid Fic, M/M, Polyamory, Seto is good with kids, Yuugi needs to step away from the memes, flareshipping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-01
Updated: 2017-03-01
Packaged: 2018-09-27 17:59:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10037348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpadesDame/pseuds/SpadesDame
Summary: She was looking at the ground, toeing a pebble with her dirty sneaker, worn thin from use. “You came back.”





	

Faced with the orphanage gates for the second time in such a short while, Seto was filled with a sense of finality. He could not help but feel that it was not for naught, though, for as strong as that feeling was, the purpose surging thought his being was much stronger, resonating within him; clear and defined, waiting for him to grasp it and trudge forward along its course.

And he was not alone –something he had long struggled with accepting. Atem stepped up beside him once they exited the car and slipped his hand in his own with a hearty squeeze. Tracing over the bumps of his knuckles with his own fingers, feeling the slide of skin on bone, he found the peculiar reminder or their mortality sobering yet, at the same time, a comfort. Something had to _be_ in order to cease. And they _were_ , all of them, alive in the here and now and about to take the next grand step in their communal lives. Yuugi framed hiss other side, linking his arm with Seto’s.

They were ready.

 

“Mr. Kaiba! We were not expecting you. Did you send word? Forgive me, I was not informed properly, or we would have prepared.”

Seto did not bother to dismiss her fickle concerns. “We are here for Aki and Rika.” He figured, in any case, straight to the point was the best approach. He would rather be in and out of here as soon as possible.

“Oh?” The woman looked suddenly interested as she adjusted her gaudy glasses on her nose. “Did you manage to come by potential legal guardians for them, after all?”

“As a matter of fact, I did, so ready the paperwork. The sooner we are done with these technicalities, the sooner I can get to more important matters. That he had made sure to clear his schedule for the day, was not for her to know.

“Well now, Mr. Kaiba. We will be delighted for the new parents-to-be to pass by the orphanage for an evaluation by our own assigned social workers. You understand, that even though we do value your opinion and I am sure you have done a more than adequate job-

“They are standing right in front of you,” he interjected, cutting her off before his head started spinning from unnecessary blabbering. When she looked at them like she had gotten a screw loose in her circuit, he pressed his lips together in annoyance. Her bespectacled gaze kept fleeting between them like she didn’t quite know what to make of them. He turned to his companions. “Leave us.” Despite the harsh words, he took care for his tone to be calm and subdued. “I should like to clear up some things here.” Then he made eye contact with Atem and added, “please”.

*

After a reassuring smile from Yuugi, Atem left him to wait for Seto outside the office and decided to step out from some air. It was getting increasingly difficult to concentrate around the constriction in his chest and the needlepoint behind his left eye, so he followed the sound of children playing and quickly found himself in an enclosed yard. To his left, several meters away, a plastic playground stood, a few kids climbing on the slide from both ends. A good distance away, he put his back to the wall, hands behind his hips and leaned his head back. His eyes closed. Breathe in. Breathe out. In. Out.

 There was a scuffle of feet on gravel, too light to belong to an adult. They didn’t speak, so he let himself draw in a few more breaths before blinking his eyes open. A little girl, up to his hip in height, was leaning on the wall in a pose mirroring his own. A blonde tumble of hair, wavy with jagged edges around her round face glittered gold in the sunlight.

Rika.

She was looking at the ground, toeing a pebble with her dirty sneaker, worn thin from use. “You came back.”

“Yes,” Atem confirmed, redundantly, in lack of another answer. This was it. If everything went smoothly…

“Did he find us a home?” She asked, still without looking at him.

“He did. I think. If you are in agreement with our decision.”

“Whatever.”

“Hey, no.” He protested. “It’s you who will have the final word.” He was well aware that the law didn’t normally care for the word of underage children. But he was not the law, and the last thing he wanted was to force them. When she didn’t give a sign that she had heard him, he fell into a crouch, his weight on his heels and elbows resting on his knees. The fact that she didn’t turn away, let him continue. “Rika? May I call you Rika?” he asked, in an attempt to get her talking.

“What else? That’s my  name.”

His smile wavered for a second before it was back full force at realizing he had her attention now. Her eyes were the greenest green he had ever seen and they seemed to stare right into him.

She would fit right in.

“And if I told you we were here to take you home,” he asked carefully, holding her gaze, “what would you say?”

“Who’s ‘we’,” she demanded, apprehensive.

“Seto, Yuugi and myself.”

“Who’s going to adopt us then.”

He shook his head because she misunderstood. “We will. The three of us. That is, if you are not opposed to the idea.”

“You? Yeah right.” Then she got angry, her little chest puffing up.” Don’t play with us, asshole.”

“I would never,” he defended. He frowned. So far, he had studiously avoided dwelling on the off-chance that they failed to take them home with them. He would dread having to force anyone into a situation they did not want, let alone a child. He would sooner loose a leg or be sucked back inside the puzzle. “Do you not want to come home with us, Rika?” he asked gently. “Because we would very much like to adopt your brother and you into our family, but we will respect your wishes.”

She stared at him without speaking, distrustful. His heart plummeted at the sobering realization that they had returned to the silent treatment. Would this be it, he wondered, and they would return to an empty house made emptier than before if only for the absence of the underlying promise, the hope. It seemed he had put more of his heart into this than he had been previously aware of. He would be crushed, were it to shatter.

For his own sadness, he dreaded Seto’s reaction even more. He would clam up and insist he was fine until it all came back to haunt him and they were left to pick up the pieces.

“I’m not saying sorry.”

It took him a moment –an embarrassingly long one at that- to react. And when he did, it still was not the most intelligent answer.

“What?”

“I’m not sorry,” she said again. Looking at him, she clarified, “for hitting him.” Rika defiantly tossed her head, her emerald eyes pinning him with their intensity.

After another moment, laughter bubbled up in Atem’s chest, spilling past his lips unwittingly when it could no longer be contained. The look she fixed him with, suggested he had gone mad and maybe he had, but he could not help it. “Okay, okay,” he breathed, wiping at his eyes, mindful of the smudging. Any running khol that came away on his fingers, he wiped on his pants. “Nothing like that, don’t worry. He can be very… intense. But he doesn’t do things halfway, and when he loves is no exception.”

“Fine.” She stole a look behind her shoulder before grabbing his hand. “Let’s go, or she’ll notice.” Three of his fingers clutched tight in her small palm, she dragged him back the way he had come.

They found Yuugi where he had left him, only now Seto had joined him. They were conversing in low tones but both turned to look at Atem when they came in sight. Atem supposed they made quite the picture to the outsider’s eye, with Rika holding onto him tightly like they were already family. Like they had been for a while.

“I guess you found her. Hello, Rika-chan!” Yuugi said with a wholesome smile.

Atem gave him a tender smile, thankful for breaking the stupor. “Everything okay, dragon?”

“Hn. Like legalities were ever a concern for this Kaiba Seto.”

Rika waved from Atem’s side.

“The headmistress has gone to find Aki and bring him here,” Yuugi explained, smiling reassuringly.

Rika’s hand remained in his even though he had made certain that she could withdraw from his hold if she so wished. “Do you need to get anything from your room?” he asked her.

She considered it, then shook her head, her uncombed hair falling in her eyes “No, I’m fine.”

Atem thought he heard Yuugi mutter “hi fine, I’m dad,” and shot him a curious look. Yuugi shrugged and bit his lip to ward off a smile, even though his rising anxiety and underlying nervous amusement were apparent thought the bond. He pulled Yuugi to him, resting his hand on his hip in a half embrace, the heat of his body all over his left side.

Right then, the woman walked back inside, a sullen looking toddler on her heels. He hesitantly stole a glance through his unruly hair and once he spotted Seto, he immediately brightened.

Atem sought out Seto’s face, to see him smile as well –not with his lips so much as with his eyes- a real, happy smile. His heart swelled, ready to burst at the sight, chest warm and nerve-endings tingling with anticipation.

“Are you my dad?” Aki asked, innocently, his voice low and unsure but hopeful all the same.

“Yes.”

The next moment Aki was in Seto’s arms, having flung himself at the man, leaving Seto to swoop in and catch him. Aki giggled as he was spun in the air, coming to rest securely in Seto’s arms. Like the first time, Aki’s short arms were wrapped tightly around Seto’s neck. Unlike the first time, Seto gave himself into the embrace, holding Aki just as desperately albeit with care, his nose pressed in the toddler’s soft curls.

Beside him, Rika huffed, leaning just a little on Atem’s hip. Emboldened by her trust, he allowed his hand to rest lightly on her shoulder. “Maybe it won’t be that bad,” she admitted.

“Not at all,” Yuugi agreed, hooking his own arm around Atem’s waist, thumb hooking in one of his belt-loops. His chin came to rest on Atem’s shoulder and he repeated the statement before pressing a tiny kiss to the nape of Atem’s neck.

Atem’s cheeks were starting to hurt, but it was okay, because the small inconvenience was caused by his happiness and that by far overruled everything else as he watched Seto give Aki an eskimo kiss, with Aki’s cheerful giggles filling through his ears. Atem bumped his temple against Yuugi’s, softly, content to stay like this and watch for a moment longer, willing the moment to be imprinted in his memory forever, unlike so many others.

 _We can make this work yet_ , he told Yuugi through the link, Yuugi’s non-verbal affirmative resonating within him better than the sweetest of prayers.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello peeps! So i spent a weekend at my dad's, and classes are A Thing again, so after a p big hit to my emotional stability, i bring this to you after a 3 hour introductive lecture i did Not need. Plz note that it has not been beta-read and i will see to it before i go to bed, so if you happen to read it before then, bear with me. 
> 
> And it's starting! Here! We! Go! Honestly i didn't expect the warm reception to the previous installment, for which i am thankful <3 With this, we have been introduced to Rika somewhat, albeit this is not even 1/3 of her charm since i wanted to show her more guarded-yet-hopeful side. I consider her about 6 to 7 yo, while Aki is maybe 3? I hope that isn't? too? off?? (help)
> 
> Next up, Yuugi gets his time to shine in a Crisis, and updates to a Real Dad if you found him too passive here. (Honestly, so did I, but it couldn't be helped. 't was no this time, friends. YET. Although if the dad joke didn't make him a real dad, i don't know what will.) 
> 
> Seto will be "dad", Atem will be "papa" and Yuugi will be "chichi" in japaneese, which i will have a blast writing for Reasons you will have to wait to discover if you are not already in on the joke! OuO
> 
> If you have a minute to spare, i would really love to hear from you. <3


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